Life in the underworld
by Shadow-of-death060
Summary: A/U.This story is Shadow's life in the underworld. From his birth until He meets Sonic. Read about Shadow growing up and what he was like before Sonic was on the scene in 'A Vampires Love For A Mortal'. Some chapters may be longer then others. Please let me know what you all think. Chap 4 being typed...
1. Birth

**Life in the underworld**

**Chapter one**

**Birth **

It was an exciting time in the underworld everybody was buzzing for joy as the news of a baby vampire being born was spreading across the whole underworld faster then lighting. There are many baby vampire's born almost every day but this baby was special for he would be the heir to ruling over the underworld in many years to come.

In the middle of the underworld a beautiful palace stood out in all its glory as faint screams of pain were auditable. Throughout the huge building everyone was anxious and growing more so as each scream grew louder.

"Collin this is all your fault…O god having Tanya wasn't this painful. Ahhhha make it stop make the pain go…p-please." Emily complained in absolute agony while pushing when ever a contraction came along.

Collin stood beside his wife holding her hand in comfort as she laid on the bed giving birth to their son.

"Your doing brilliantly my love" Collin softly whispered into Emily's ear.

Emily screamed as another contraction came. She pushed with all her might but was again unsuccessful in delivering the baby. Emily has been in labour for 6 and a half hours now and she was becoming tired every time a contraction came along.

The midwife in the room was a dark brown rabbit with long pointy ears that stood upwards. She was in her white uniform, a cream coloured apron and blue latex gloves. The nurse also present in the room was a white fluffy sheep with a dark blue uniform, a cream apron and blue latex gloves.

"Your doing very well my Lady just a few more big pushes and you will have your baby in your arms in no time." The midwife said with a soft smile.

In the lounge area there was a teenage hedgehog girl of the age 17 anxiously waiting with her wolf friend Danny. She was dressed in tight dark blue jeans and a loose pink v-neck t-shirt. On her feet were light purple slipper boots with her jeans tucked inside. Danny was light grey in fur colour and he had silvery blue eyes. He was wearing light blue baggy jeans and a plain pale red t-shirt. Danny was also the age of 17 and the son of Charley a highly respected member of the council.

Another scream was heard and the two friends froze until silence fell.

"If labour is that painful I'm never having children, not ever!" Tanya said in a shaky tone.

Danny sighed somewhat glad that he was a male and couldn't get pregnant.

Back in the room where Emily was giving birth. Emily was out of breath from pushing, a coat of sweat covered her body and her hair was a tangled mess. Collin dabbed her forehead with a cool damp cloth in a gentle yet soothing way.

"Why wont he come out already?" Emily whispered as her body relaxed a little but not for long.

"Ahhhha God I can't do this" Emily screamed out with her eyes shut tight with pain.

"Yes you can now push." The midwife said back as she went between Emily's legs

Emily pushed with all her might screaming in the process but she was soon becoming too tired to push.

"Something's not right the baby should have arrived by now. Nurse May could you do a scan please." The midwife asked in a slight concerned tone.

"What's wrong? Tell me please." Collin asked as he stroked his wife's cheek to comfort her.

"I hope nothing but we will know as soon as we have a visual." The midwife replied.

Nurse May prepared Emily for a scan, applying the lube onto her pregnant belly. All who were in the room watched the screen carefully. They soon saw an image of a baby moving around in distresses.

Then all of a sudden Emily had another contraction a much more severe one. She couldn't help but push.

"My Lady you need to stop pushing the baby is in the wrong position." The nurse said in concern

"I-I can't help it…Ahhhha…" Emily managed to say before pushing unwillingly.

The nurse looked at the scan picture and saw something unusual. She gasped in surprise which caused the midwife and Collin to look at the picture.

"What the…are they his fangs?" Collin asked in shock.

This caused Emily to look then she gasped.

"It appears your baby will be born with his fangs…I must say this is a first usually the fangs don't break through until the age of one." Nurse May said fixated to the screen.

Then the baby suddenly moved and Emily felt a push coming along. Emily began to push as the midwife peeped between her legs.

"I see his head, come on my Lady one big push, you can do it." The midwife said with a smile

Emily pushed again screaming in absolute pain as the baby's head came through. She gave one final push and the baby was out. Emily sighed in relief and feeling a little sleepy.

"Congratulations on your baby boy" The nurse said as the midwife cleaned the baby.

Collin and Emily smiled with delight finally receiving a son. The midwife carried the baby over to Emily and Collin. She passed the baby over into Emily's arms.

Emily and Collin smiled down at their son as he yarned with closed eyes. They both could clearly see his fangs as he yarned.

"Best not to breast feed him. You will end up getting bitten." Nurse May advised in a soft voice.

Both Emily and Collin nodded and Emily was given a bottle of blood to feed the baby with.

"Welcome to the world my son" Collin whispered then kissed him on the forehead.

The nurse and midwife cleaned up the room and packed up their equipment.

"We will be off now my Lord and Lady. If you have any worries or concerns then please don't hesitate to call." The Nurse said with a smile

"Thank you and we will" Emily said in a slight whisper.

The nurse and midwife left the couple to bond with their new baby and exited the palace to return to the hospital.

"He is perfect Collin don't you think." Emily whispered softly as she watched her son drink from the bottle.

"That he is my love." Collin replied in the same soft tone.

Not long after that was said there was a light knock on the bedroom door. The door opened and two creatures entered the room and walked up to the bed.

Danny and Tanya looked at the baby boy and both smiled.

"Congratulations my Lord and Lady." Danny said while bawling in respect.

"Thank you I guess we can say good bye to a good night sleep" Emily said in a tired tone.

"He is so adorable I can't believe I have a baby brother." Tanya announced in awe.

Yep he was the cutest baby they all had ever seen. He was jet black like his father but he had blood red streaks in his head quills and up his arms and legs. He also had a small tuff of white fur upon his chest. He got the red in his fur from his mother for her fur was a deep red.

He slowly opened his eyes to revel the most beautiful ruby red iris'. He looked up to his mother and kept his stare at her as he drank from the bottle.

"Hello there my beautiful baby boy." Emily softly said with a warm welcoming look.

He never broke eye contact even when he finished his bottle.

"What are you going to call him?" Danny asked with a smile.

That question stunned both Emily and Collin they hadn't thought of a name yet. They both agreed to wait until he was born and since he was they both started to come out with all kinds of names.

"Humm…What about David?" Collin suggested as he locked eyes with his wife.

"No to common" Emily replied as she caressed her nameless son's cheek.

"Ok how about…George." Tanya asked.

Both Collin and Emily looked at her in thought then nodded in disapproval.

"What about…strips on the count of his head quills." Danny said while smiling.

"Nice idea but I don't think it will suit him." Collin replied.

They all watched the newly born baby waving his arms around slightly and watching the shadow of his arms with curiosity. Then it clicked as the baby tried to catch one.

"I've got it…Shadow. Its not that common and it's a good strong name for a future ruler of the underworld." Collin announced with a smile and looking down at his son.

"Shadow humm Shadow…I like it." Emily spoke softly, smiling down at her playful son.

"It's perfect my Lord." Danny said in agreement with the overlord.

"Yes daddy it suits him well." Tanya added.

"Yes…welcome to the world my dearest Shadow." Emily whispered in a loving tone.

Shadow yarned cutely showing off his small vampire fangs in the process, suddenly becoming tried he cessed all movement and drifted off into a peaceful slumber while cuddling into his mother.

Everyone watched him and Tanya got the camera ready to take a photo. With a flash and a click Tanya took her brother's picture.

"His first moment alive caught on camera. It's a cute one too." Tanya announced with a smile putting the camera on the bedside table for her mother and father to use later on.

"I'm sure your very tired my Lady so I'll leave you to rest." Danny announced bawling in respect before leaving with his best friend.

"Yeah mum I'll leave you to rest also." Tanya agreed and left with her best friend.

Tanya and Danny closed the door up gently so not to wake the new born and both headed to go out into the garden area, to wonder around and discuss what life will be like now that Shadow was born.

In the bedroom Collin laid next to his wife and his new addition to the family. The two cuddled up closely still in a blissful moment, Emily no longer pregnant and Collin no longer having to put up with a moody and fed up pregnant wife.

"I know this is early but I don't want any more kids but I could end up changing my mind later on in life." Emily whispered softly while gently stroking Shadow's cheek.

"Humm can't but agree with you my love. I'm quite satisfied with the two we have." Collin agreed then gave his wife a peck on her forehead.

"I have a strong feeling that Shadow is going to be a handful. I hope your ready for disturbed sleep, early morning feeds and the possibility of taking him off my hands for a few hours here and there." Emily teased knowing her husband would do all this without being asked.

Collin picked up on the teasing tone of his tired wife and gave her a grin.

"Well in that case you could always take over my role and rule the underworld and I'll be the full time father." Collin jokingly suggested.

Emily rolled her eye's at that sentence then suddenly looked down as she felt her son squirm in her arms. Shadow opened his eye's to revile his ruby blood red iris'. They started to water and Both parents knew he was going to start crying.

"Better get another bottle ready. I'll be back as soon as I can." Collin said getting up and rushing off to the kitchen.

Newly born vampire's need a lot of feeding and since Shadow had his fangs Emily was unable to give her son the blood he needed in a much faster way. So now they will have to put up with a lot of bottle feeding which took time to prepare and deliver.

Shadow had tears coming down his cheeks as he screamed out of hunger, Emily tried to calm him down but nothing she could think of was working.

"You are certainly a demanding one. Hurry up Collin." Emily said as she scotched up the bed so she was sitting up.

She rocked Shadow softly cooing to him in a loving way.

"Shh Shadow its coming. How about while we wait we'll get a nappy on you." Emily said slowly getting out of bed to reach a bag of disposable nappies that were located beside the end of the bed.

With a lot of struggling and a bit of pain down below, Emily finally managed to get a nappy and put it on Shadow. She also decided that she might as well put him in his light baby blue all-in-one baby grow.

Shadow stopped crying after he was dressed in a cosy baby grow and cuddled up to his mother whom retreated back to laying in bed. Collin came into the room with a bottle of warm blood for Shadow to drink.

"I see you got him dressed. I would of done that for you after all you need to rest." Collin said as he handed Emily the bottle.

"I know but he wouldn't stop crying so I figured getting him dressed and in a nappy might help to settle him, which it did." Emily replied back now feeding Shadow who hungrily gulped down his meal.

Shadow gripped his small hands onto his bottle in fear of it being taken away before he could finish the contents. When he was finished Emily took the bottle away and handed it over to Collin who noticed two small holes in the rubber teat.

"Seems like you made the right choice not to breast feed him my love, look." Collin stated then showed his wife the holes.

Emily gasped a little then looked at a now full and cosy Shadow in her arms. She smiled warmly at him who mimicked her actions. It seems Shadow was bright and may possible a fast learner too.

"Guess this means we are going to go through a hell of a lot of bottles…want to hold you son Collin?" Emily said then asked with tired looking eyes.

Collin smiled and nodded at his wife. He held out his arms and gently took a hold of his only son. Shadow fussed a little from being moved from his comfortable spot but soon settled into his fathers arms. Shadow rubbed his eyes and yarned as Collin slowly rocked him to sleep.

"It just hasn't truly sank in yet but I bet it will when he wakes us up in the early hours of the morning." Collin whispered lightly with his wife agreeing.

Collin's content smile never left his muzzle, he was over the moon. He finally had the son he always wanted, don't get me wrong he loved his daughter and would do anything for her but he couldn't help but to remember how he felt a little disappointed that Tanya turned out to be a girl.

It took a long time after Tanya was born for Emily to fall pregnant again and they were starting to lose hope until the magic of reproduction happened. Now here they were with their son in the world and both couldn't be happier, maybe except the hope that Shadow will be a well behaved baby and not cry a lot or cause too much trouble later in life. We all don't ask for much do we.

Collin looked over to his wife and smiled at her, Emily had fallen asleep. Collin sat on the bed as he softly caressed his son's quills, still with a smile on his muzzle. His life was now complete, there was nothing else he desired. He had a wonderful and loving wife, two beautiful children and the underworld was at peace. What could possible go wrong?


	2. Teething and nightmares

**Chapter two**

**Teething and nightmares **

The day started out as a quirt and peaceful morning in the underworld that was until Shadow woke up screaming. Emily shot out of bed and walked over to her son who was still crying loudly in his cot at the other end of the room. Emily bent down to picked Shadow up and gently rocked him as she made her way back to the bed.

Shadow stopped crying half way towards reaching the bed and looked up at his mother with watery eyes and slightly wet cheeks. Emily smiled down at Shadow and sat on the edge of the bed. Emily gently dried Shadow's cheeks with one finger and sat Shadow up on her lap. Shadow yarned while rubbing his eyes a little before snuggling into his mother for a little comfort and gave little sobs and sniffs.

He woke up from yet another nightmare.

Emily comforted Shadow by gently rocking backwards and forwards on the bed and stroking his back softly. Shadow's sobs became nonexistent and were replaced with even breathing as he snuggled closer to his mother.

"Its alright sweetie, no more bad dream." Emily softly whispered then added "Come on lets get you your bottle I bet your hungry."

Emily got up off the bed and put Shadow down but away from the edge of the bed so she could put her white dressing gown on over her long pink nightdress. While she was doing this Shadow decided he would crawl towards the other side of the king size bed where his father would sleep. He almost made it to the edge of the bed but Emily quickly ran over to him and grabbed Shadow to prevent him from falling on the floor with a painful bang.

"That was a close call. Come on then lets get breakfast, daddy may even be in the dining room waiting for us." Emily said holding a struggling Shadow in her arms clearly wanting to be back on the bed.

"Shadow stop that I'm going to end up dropping you." Emily firmly said as she walked out of her and Collin's bedroom.

Shadow stopped his struggling and settled in his mother's arms, resting his head on Emily's shoulder and clutching and un-clutching the white dressing gown with one hand and using the other to suck his thumb.

As Emily walked down the hallways she was greeted by the nanny she hired to help look after Shadow when herself and Collin were too busy with their duties.

"Good morning my Lady, I hope you slept well." The nanny polity asked as she bawled in respect.

"Good morning Ruby, apart from the usual 2.30 feeding time for mister clingy over here I slept reasonably well." Emily replied happily with a smile.

Ruby was a well experienced nanny whom had helped Emily and Collin when Tanya was young. She was a dark orange cat with curly shoulder length copper coloured hair. She wore a plain dark blue long sleeved dress that flowed down below her knees. The dress had a shirt like collar look around the neck area with buttons 4 going down the front stopping at her chest area and it was slightly frilly at the bottom.

"Still waking up for night feeds. Well I'm sure it wont be long before he sleeps throughout the night after all he is 9 and a half months old." Ruby said with a smile.

"Yes…I'm glad I bumped into you actually. I have the day to myself and I don't need your services to look after Shadow so your free to do what ever you wish." Emily announced while bouncing Shadow up and down gently.

Shadow was starting to fuss and he was getting hungrier with every passing minute. He started to fidget in his mothers arms and moaning, getting louder with every sound that escaped his lips. His moaning became cries as his stomach started to hurt from being empty for to long.

"Thank you my Lady. I will see you tomorrow." Ruby slightly shouted over Shadow's cries.

Ruby left in one direction while Emily carried on towards the dining area still bouncing her son lightly to try to stop his crying.

Emily made it to the dining room and was greeted by her husband. Collin got up from the table where he was working on some reports and walked up to his wife and son.

Collin was dressed in his dark blue jeans and his royal deep red robe with gold lining. He had on black leather boots that had short but blunt silver spikes around the rim of each boot, jeans tucked into his boots so the spikes could be seen.

"Good morning my love." Collin said then kissed Emily on her lips then looked at his son who was sobbing a little.

"Good morning Shadow." Collin said taking his son into his arms then gently rocking him.

"Morning. Shadow had another nightmare this morning." Emily announced as they walked to the table, taking their usual seats.

Collin moved Shadow so he was sitting up on his lap, then Collin moved his reports away from his son's reach.

"Another one, that's the twelfth time this month. This is getting way out of hand" Collin replied as he looked down at Shadow with concern in his eyes.

"Don't worry dear he will grow out of it. Wont you sweetie." Emily said to her husband then caressed Shadow's cheek in which made him smile slightly.

"I just wish I knew what his nightmares were about, its not like he witnesses anything bad or horrific." Collin replied then stopped Shadow from biting the table any further.

"I know it's a puzzle in its self. We could always consult with a psychic. If you like I could get one of our maids to call up your cousin Joey. It would be better to have a family member then a stranger, someone we could trust." Emily suggested in a serious tone.

When Emily finished her sentence two maids came in with their breakfast placing two bowls of warm blood and a spoon in front of Collin and Emily then a bottle of warm blood in Shadow's hands.

"Here you are my Lord and Lady, please enjoy." One of the maids announced then both left quietly.

Shadow was the first to indulge himself into his long awaited breakfast as the conversation continued.

"I have been waiting for an excuse to call him over. It would be nice to catch up with Joey. We used to be really close when we were growing up. I'll call him after breakfast then finish those reports." Collin agreed with his wife's suggestion.

Collin and Emily started on their breakfast, Collin held onto Shadow securely with one arm as you do when you have a young yet fidgety child on your lap when eating. Shadow was the first to finish so to kill the boredom he was biting the hell out of the bottle and creating small holes.

Collin looked at what Shadow was doing to his bottle and frowned a little. Giving a heavy sigh he removed the horrifically damaged bottle out of Shadow's hand to prevent him from accidentally swallowing any stray pieces that may break off into his mouth.

To prevent his son from screaming and crying for the bottle back, Collin started to feed Shadow blood from his metal spoon. Collin went to take the spoon out of Shadow's mouth but couldn't due to Shadow biting down hard onto it.

"Shadow let go of daddy's spoon then you can have some more." Collin said in a semi serious tone.

Shadow bit down one last time then the spoon was realised from his mouth. Both Collin and Emily were shocked to see small holes in the spoon.

"I've never known any vampire's that could bit through solid objects, especially metal." Collin said looking at the holes going all the way through his spoon.

"Nether have I Collin…Those fangs of his are sharp, we will have to rid him of this biting habit. I wouldn't want him hurting someone." Emily slightly whispered in shock.

Shadow started to stretch out to grab back the spoon but Collin moved it far out of his reach. This caused Shadow to cry a little, he wanted something to bite.

"Baaaahhh" Shadow cried out still trying to reach the spoon that was on the table out of his grasp.

"No Shadow you can't have it." Collin firmly stated trying to keep his son from falling off his lap.

Shadow squirmed and cried out even louder in hope it would get him what he desired at this moment in time.

"Shadow stop this now." Collin shouted in slight fear of dropping Shadow onto the hard floor.

Shadow stopped is squirming but cried even harder with tears running freely down his cheeks. The tone of Collins voice scared Shadow a little and he reached out to his mother whom got up and took Shadow from his father.

"I'll taking him for his bath you just relax and call your cousin up ok dear." Emily softly said placing a gentle kiss upon Collin's lips before leaving the dining room.

While Collin called his cousin Joey up Emily walked quickly to the bedroom. She entered with a still crying Shadow and placed him in his cot then went into the inbuilt bathroom and started to run a bubble bath for Shadow.

Shadow immediately stopped crying and rubbed his eye's dry sniffing a couple of times as he did so. He looked at the bars of his cot and crawled closer to one and tried to bite it. With a move of his position he managed to bite down hard into the solid wood, causing deep holes as he bit in several different places.

Emily finished running the bath and came out to grab Shadow. She stood in shock at the damage Shadow had caused to his cot. Shadow didn't just bite on the one wooden bars, he bit all the bars on one side of the cot and was in the middle of biting the last bar at the end when Emily picked him up.

Shadow protested at this and squirmed in his mothers hold, crying out to be put back in his cot so he could finish what he started. Emily ignored her son's behaviour and walked into the bathroom. She closed the door and put Shadow down onto the bathroom floor. Shadow crawled towards the bath tub then just sat next to it looking around for other items to bite.

"Shadow, what am I going to do with you? I wonder if your teething." Emily sighed loudly then walked to her son.

She kneeled down and bravely felt his gums avoiding his extremely sharp fangs. Emily gasped at what she felt, Shadows gums felt like they were on fire and bumpy. Indeed he was teething.

"So that's why all of a sudden you've decided to bite everything in your sight." Emily whispered with a loving smile.

She picked Shadow up and took his cream coloured all in one pyjama and his nappy off, then placed Shadow in the warm bath gently. Emily disposed of the wet nappy into the bin and sat on the edge of the bath to supervise her son.

"Baa baa" Shadow said in his baby language as he splashed the water, creating more bubbles in the process.

"Careful your splashing mummy." Emily laughed out putting her arms up as a shield from the water.

Shadow loved his bath times especially when bubbles are concerned. He was going crazy laughing with joy forgetting all about his teething problem as he splashed and blew at the bubbles in his hands.

After a little play time Emily started to wash Shadow down, cleaning his fur and muzzle. This was the part of bath time Shadow didn't enjoy so much, he tried to move out of his mother's reach but to his dislike Emily grabbed Shadow gentle and held him in place.

"Come on sweetie the less you struggle the quicker I will be done cleaning you up." Emily softly stated almost falling in the bath.

After a few minutes of struggling and being splashed at, Emily finally managed to get Shadow squeaky clean. She let Shadow play with the bubbles for a little longer while she prepared the changing area with a clean nappy, his brush and a light blue baby grow.

"Its time to get out now Shadow." Emily announced picking her soaking wet son out of the bath using a warm towel then rapping it around him.

Emily walked to the changing table and laid Shadow on it. She rubbed him dry then proceeded with putting on a clean nappy. Shadow watched the whole process holding his aqua green brush in his hands that will be used to brush his fur down.

The nappy was finally on and secure ensuring no leeks will happen during the day. Shadow sat up and was about to put the brush into his mouth when Emily took it.

"I don't think so Shadow. Be a good boy and let mummy brush you." Emily asked starting to brush Shadow.

Of course like always Shadow fussed over being brushed and wouldn't stay still that was until Emily started on his little tuff of white chest fur. Shadow giggled at the ticklish feeling and his giggles soon grew into laughing fits.

"Has someone developed a ticklish spot. Tickle, tickle." Emily asked then tickled her son even more.

The moment came to an end as Emily finished brushing. She handed the brush back to her only son whom tried to mimic what his mother did with it. This caused Emily to smile lovingly as she dressed him in his baby grow.

She took the brush away and placed it back on the table, she picked Shadow up, pulled the plug to the bath out to drain the unwanted water then left the bathroom. Emily placed Shadow on the bedroom floor and gave him his blocks to play with while she got herself dressed for the day.

After 10 minutes Emily was dressed in a sparkling lilac silk dress that flowed to her ankles and a white fitted cardigan buttoned up with four large buttons. She had her white slipper boots on since she had a rare lazy day and her hair was tide up in a high pony-tail. She approached her son who was playing with his blocks, building towers with them.

"That's very good Shadow. Lets put them away and take them with us to the lounge shall we." Emily said then started to pack the blocks away in the small basket they came in.

"Baa" Shadow went as he dropped different coloured blocks into the basket.

The blocks were away in the basket Emily held in one hand and Shadow was in his mothers arms playing with her tied up hair gentle as they made their way to the lounge. Before they reached the lounge Emily bumped into her husband, they shared a passionate kiss in the hallway.

"Did you managed to get a hold of Joey?" Emily asked as she was given a long yet loving hug.

"I did he is on his way and should be here soon and I also managed to finish my reports so I have a few hours going spare." Collin replied still hugging his wife and son.

"That's good and I know why Shadow keeps biting everything…he's teething already and he needs a new cot. He has destroyed the wooden bars to the point of being unfixable." Emily announced as they walked to the lounge.

"Is that so. Teething already, well it is to be expected since he was born with his fangs but I never would of thought it would happen this early though. As for his cot I'll get someone to order a new one." Collin replied now holding the basket of blocks since Shadow refused to go to his daddy.

They reached the lounge and Shadow was put on the rug with his blocks and both Emily and Collin sat with him trying to teach him to talk.

"Shadow can you say mama?" Emily softly asked in which she got a smile from Shadow

"Baa" Shadow said holding up a yellow block passing it to his mummy.

Emily took the block and followed Shadow's pointed finger and placed the block on the small tower.

"Ok Shadow try saying dada, Can you say dada?" Collin asked next getting the same reply but was passed an orange block to put on the tower instead of yellow.

"I don't think his interested in talking at the moment Collin." Emily sighed putting another block onto the tower that was slowly getting taller.

"Maybe…thank you Shadow." Collin agreed then thanked his son for the red block to put on the tower.

Just as Collin put the block on the tower a maid rushed in with an announcement.

"My Lord and Lady I've just got word that Joey has arrived and will be with you very shortly." The maid said as she bawled.

"Thank you for telling us. You can go back to your duties now." Collin thanked the maid then dismissed her.

Collin and Emily got up as Joey approached the lounge entrance with a suitcase in his hand. Joey walked a little towards Collin and Emily whom also walked to meet Joey.

Joey was an ash grey hedgehog with his quills spiking upwards and black tips at the end of each quill. He was wearing a plain dark purple t-shirt and black jeans with a studded belt. He had black trainers with dark blue streaks on the sides. His eyes were a glistering sky blue colour making him look young and innocent.

"Joey its so good to see you, its been far too long." Collin said pulling Joey into a friendly hug whom returned.

"Hello Joey your looking well." Emily greeted politely with a warm smile.

"Yes hello it is always good to see you both and I'm doing great." Joey replied now no longer in a hug.

As the adults greeted one another Shadow watched from the rug he sat on with a block in his mouth, biting away at it. Shadow then removed the block and dropped it on the floor. He tried to get up wanting to meet this new person who has taken his parents attention away from him but fell on his bottom. He repeated this a few time with the same result.

He stood up again and this time got his balance. Taking small yet slow steps and wobbling a little he managed to toddle over to them with a look of determination and concentration in his eyes.

"Baa baa" He shouted holding his arms up to be picked up by his mummy as he reached by her side.

The three looked in Shadow's direction and all were shocked and happy to see him taking his very first steps.

"Shadow sweetie your walking. O my god your walking, well done Shadow." Emily happily said with a smile picking her son up when he approached her side. She gave Shadow a loving hug congratulating him.

"That's my boy." Collin said taking Shadow into his embrace and giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"Well done Shadow." Joey praised with a friendly smile.

Shadow stared at Joey with a curious look unsure of this new hedgehog. He has never met him before or at least he doesn't remember ever meeting him. Joey smiled at Shadow softly then his expression changed as a vision appeared in his mind. Collin knew his cousin saw something, he has seen that look in his eyes so many times before.

"What did you see Joey?" Collin whispered slightly causing Joey to come back into reality and look at his overlord cousin.

"Nothing bad I hope." Emily added also noticing the sudden change in Joey's eyes

"It was…nothing. Can I hold him?" Joey asked with a smile.

Collin passed his son over to Joey and amazingly Shadow didn't protest like he usually would when passed to anyone that he didn't know well. Joey and Shadow looked in each others eyes for a moment then Joey gave the same cloudy look he did earlier, he was having another vision.

Collin and Emily started to become concerned and fear ran through both of their bodies for a split second. Joey's vision ended but you could see worry in his eye's.

"I…I'm sorry about this I can't control when a vision decides to appear to me, wish I could though it would make my life a lot easier." Joey said still holding Shadow in his arms who was refusing to leave.

"He has taken quite a shine to you Joey." Emily said in a happy tone then added "so what did you see?"

Joey stiffened up a little as the vision played over again in his head, this however didn't go unnoticed.

"What was it Joey? If it has anything to do with my son, I and my wife have the right to know." Collin seriously stated reaching to take Shadow from his cousin's arms.

Shadow looked at his father with a smile but showed no sign of wanting to move from Joey infact Shadow decided to rest his head on Joey's shoulder. Collin saw how content his son had became and decided better then to upset Shadow by moving him.

"Shadow is gifted with a rare gift of darkness but at the moment it lays dormant waiting to be realised and when it is free he will be capable of so much destruction if not controlled. What I saw was what he would be capable of doing, he would be able to kill and inflect pain without even lifting a finger." Joey explained in a serious tone pausing a little before continuing.

"There is another side to this gift that isn't bad and with total control he would be able to use his gift for a greater cause, for example saving someone from falling off a dangerous height by creating and manipulating darkness around him to suspend the person in the air and moving them to safety." Joey finished in a more upbeat tone.

Collin and Emily listened very carefully to what Joey had to say. They both went through a mixture of feelings and emotions, shock being the first, then fear, then worry before finally ending with concern for their sons future.

"Does this gift of darkness have anything to do with his resent nightmares?" Emily questioned in an almost whisper.

"It might, I'm not 100% sure but I sort of have a theory. I might need to spend some time with Shadow to see if what I suspect is correct and if it is he would be the second ever vampire in history to be able to do it," Joey truthfully replied with a hint of excitement.

"Ok sure if it helps to figure out why he has these nightmares then do what you must but first what is this theory of yours cousin?" Collin asked trying to figure out what his cousin might be getting at.

"Dream invading, he may be invading other people's dreams and it could be linked with his dormant gift of darkness. In order to know for sure I need to spend time with him, then hopefully maybe everything will become much clearer." Joey answered passing a now sleeping Shadow to Collin.

"Dream invading…the first ever overlord had that gift, I remember learning that in my history lesions. The question is who's dreams is he invading unwillingly?" Collin said then asked in wonder as he gently rocked his sleeping son.

"That I cant answer I'm afraid, I guess its something we will never know but I could describe what the dreams are about and what is scaring him so much." Joey answered then added "we would have to wait until he has another nightmare though."

"I was afraid you were going to say something on those lines Joey, if it helps he usually has them between 4.30am and 7.20am." Emily stated looking at her sleeping son in her husbands arms then added "and on rare occasions during his nap time in the day but that only happened the once."

"A big help thanks…so how is Tanya doing?" Joey thanked then changed the subject.

"She is doing fine, she's staying at a friend's house for the weekend and will be back Monday evening." Emily replied thankful for the subject change.

Joey nodded with a smile.

"Why don't I show you to your room so you can get settled in." Emily said and was about to walk off with Joey when Collin stopped her.

"I'll do it my love, I have to go for this damn meeting with the cancel now and since his room is on the way to the throne room why not kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes." Collin said passing Shadow to his wife and guiding Joey to his temp room.

Emily smiled and watched them leave, she proceeded to the sofa and laid Shadow on it then tidied away the blocks. She noticed the half bitten one and rolled her eyes as she put that one on the table.

"Might as well let him have that one to bite on, just until I get him proper teething toys." Emily aid to herself as she continued to tidy up.

When she was done, Emily sat next to Shadow and lightly stroked his head as he slept peacefully. Emily suddenly felt sleepy herself and gently closed her eyelids.

About an hour passed by and Emily shot up from her slumber to a hysterical ear piecing scream. She looked over to Shadow who was screaming and crying in his sleep. Emily picked her son up into her arms and rocked him but it didn't seem to calm him down or wake him up for that matter.

Joey heard the commotion and rushed to the lounge area only to see a panicked Emily and a frightened yet still asleep Shadow. Joey made his presence known to Emily who looked a little scared for her son.

"He has never done this before. He always wakes up when a nightmare happens always." Emily said with worry in her eyes as her son continued to cry in his sleep.

"Pass Shadow to me, at least we will know what his dreaming of." Joey ordered in a reassuring kind of way.

Emily obeyed and handed Shadow carefully over to Joey. Shadow kept crying and squirming as if trying to get away from something or someone. Joey sat on the sofa and singled Emily to sit next to him, which she did.

"Ok Just so you know I've only done this a few times but it has been recently. I can give you an insight on what's happening by keeping a hold of you but as soon as I let you go you will come back into reality. Right here goes nothing..." Joey explained taking in a deep breath.

Total concentration was seen on Joeys face as he willed himself and Emily to see what Shadow was seeing in his dream or rather someone else's dream, if Joey's theory was correct.

The room around them both disappeared as the vision took place. Emily gasped in surprise at the unknown experience and feelings of being numb and lightness of weight but for Joey this feeling was nothing new. Shadow's dream played out in both of their minds and what they saw was a complete shocker.

The place they saw was a dark and dreary woods with a thick fog covering the ground. The trees were bare of their leaves and it was very silent save for the whimpering of an infant in the distance.

Both Emily and Joey willed themselves to move towards the noise only to discover it was Shadow making those noises and he wasn't along. Whoever this person was knew Shadow was somehow invading his dream.

"Wake up from my dream child, here is no place for a infant. Hush now little one there is no need to cry I will not hurt you." A deep masculine yet gentle voice was heard from a dark coloured wolf.

"What I would like to know is how you managed to invade my dream or nightmare as it were?" The wolf said then frowned as the scene started to disappear.

"We both seem to be waking up but I have a feeling I will see you again." The wolf announced before everything went pitch black.

Joey and Emily came back into reality and Shadow was slowly waking up. Shadow snuggled into the one who was holding onto him which was Joey and started to sob a little. The two adults were silent for a few moments just letting the events soak into their minds.

"At least we know that Shadow can invade the dreams of others and since he is very young he can not control it. He will forget how to do this when he grows up but he will re-discover dream invading later in adulthood, where he will have better control. So much so he will only need to think of someone then it will happen naturally." Joey announced to his cousins wife as he comforted Shadow with a cuddle.

"I hope he forgets sooner rather then later, I don't like the way it scares him so much and I don't want him to see anything drastic at such a young age, it could cause him problems in later life." Emily replied in a concerned tone as she looked at her sobbing son.

"If it makes you feel better it wont be long before he does and I'm always a phone call away if you ever need me. I would gladly drop anything I'm doing to help a member of the family." Joey happily announced with a warm smile.

"Thank you Joey, your help is very much appreciated but we wouldn't want you to put anything important on hold." Emily replied as she took her son whom held out his arms to her.

"It wouldn't be any problem and nothing's more important to me then family." Joey stated handing Shadow over.

Emily smiled at Joey as she took Shadow into her arms. She cuddled her son until she felt his fangs on her shoulder. She frowned and lifted Shadow into the air so she could him.

"First things first we need to sort out this teething problem" Emily announced looking at her smiling son.


	3. Terrible two's

**Chapter three**

**Terrible two's**

It was a wet afternoon in the underworld, the rain poured down from the black clouds in the sky giving the plant life some much needed water to drink. The last two weeks was humid and dry and if it wasn't for the sudden rain fall, the plant life would have wilted and died.

Inside the palace was chaos, with everyone rushing around searching for someone, who had decided to disappear out of thin air. The maids were searching high and low in every room, the kitchen staff were searching the kitchen and the huge stock room, they were also on their second round in doing so, just encase they missed an area a toddler might squeeze into.

"Where could he be?" Ruby asked herself as she looked in the library with Tanya, both searching high and low but not having any luck.

Outside the weather was getting worse with hypnotising flashes of purple lighting and bangs of thunder that was as loud as a drum being played right next to your ear drum. The rain was smashing onto the ground a little harder then it was earlier too.

In the throne room, Collin was looking behind his and Emily's golden thrones, where they sat when having meetings with the council. Collin sighed seeing that his missing son wasn't there but he did find the missing red teething ring Shadow lost a little over a year ago.

"Ok think where would a two year old hide…I think I preferred it when he was teething at least we could control on what he bit." Collin whispered in a low tone as he examined the red teething ring in his hand that had many teeth marks and dented holes going all the way round.

Emily burst into the throne room and ran up to her husband with a worried look. Her eyes were puffy from crying and cheeks stained by fallen tears that had long since dried.

"No one can find him we have searched the whole palace…you don't suppose he's out in the garden in this storm, he will get ill being so young or worse." Emily announced as tears threatened to fall out of her eyes yet again over her missing son.

"Come on lets go out and look." Collin said wiping a tear from his wife's cheek that fell and then grabbing her hand to rush outside.

They both reached the garden entrance within seconds and looked out. The rain was coming down so fierce it was damaging the grass, causing muddy patches to form. A sudden roar of thunder made the two jump a little and they gasp as they witnessed a streak of lighting strike down in the distance of the garden.

"SHADOW." Emily shouted as loud as she could, clapping her hands beside her muzzle so her voice was made louder, but didn't get a reply.

"Stay here and I'll search around." Collin announced in a comforting tone to his extremely upset wife.

Emily nodded and watched helplessly as her husband rushed off into the rain to find their lost son. Collin went deep into the garden searching frantically for Shadow. He stopped as he heard a faint noise of a young child giggling and bushes being rustled in the distance. Collin quickly moved to the source of the noise and as he got closer he froze when her heard Shadow's voice.

"Splash….oooo pretty lights." Shadow said splashing in a muddy puddle then stopped and looked up as a flash lit up the sky.

"Shadow!" Collin called in a relieved and annoyed tone as he approached his soaked and muddy child.

"Daddy…da skys is pretty, looks." Shadow said happily as he pointed up with a smile.

Collin sighed at his son, realising Shadow clearly didn't know the havoc he had not long ago caused and was slowly becoming less annoyed and more thankful that Shadow wasn't harmed in any way or kidnapped.

"Come on Shadow lets go back inside and get you dried and cleaned up, we don't want you to get ill." Collin suggested, taking a hold of his sons little hand and slightly dragging Shadow towards the palace in a some what quick passé.

"No I no wanna go inside I wanna stay outs." Shadow whined trying to pull himself free from his fathers grasp .

"NO SHADOW, STOP THIS AT ONCE." Collin shouted over the roars of thunder.

Shadow continued to struggle within his fathers grip but from the amount of rain that was falling onto their hands, caused Shadow's hand to slip out of Collins grasp. Since Shadow was pulling with all of his might to break free, the sudden freeness of his hand made him fall backwards with such a force he landed a few feet away from his father, banging his head in the process.

Collin gasped and ran to his son who was laying on his back on the ground with his eyes closed and hissing through clenched teeth from the impact. As Collin rushed to aid his son, he slipped also and landed next to Shadow in a muddy puddle face down. Collin lifted himself up onto his knees, wiped some of the mud from his face, he picked Shadow up and sat him onto his lap as he moved to a sitting position.

"Are you alright Shadow?" Collin whispered into his son's ear as he cuddled him.

"N-no's…I is h-hurt back of head." Shadow sobbed into his muddy fathers chest and clutching Collins soaking wet robes.

Collin rubbed the back of Shadow head gently and mumbled soothing sounds to him as he lifted the both of them up and headed inside where Emily was worryingly waiting.

"Thank goodness you found him…Shadow what was you doing outside in this weather?" Emily said in a relieved tone then questioned her wet and muddy son in a serious tone.

"I…I was plays i-in rain a-and looks a-at pretty sky." Shadow sobbed out with tears of pain running down his cheeks then added "I is hurt head."

"Hush now sweetie its alright mummy isn't angry with you. What! he hurt his head, how?" Emily said softening her tone and smiling lovingly towards Shadow then questioned her husband in a shocked tone when she realised her son was hurt.

"He will be fine Emily, he slipped onto his back had banged his head on the wet grass. I'm sure it is more shock then anything." Collin explained in a soft voice as he comforted his upset son.

"Well if you're sure…I'll go and let everyone know he is safe and you go get the both of you cleaned up."

Collin nodded and watched Emily walk off in the direction of the library. Collin rushed off in the opposite direction towards his bathroom that was located in his and Emily's bedroom. Shadow had calmed down by the time they entered the bathroom and was looking forward to finding out what bath time with his father was going to be like. If his father had bathed him before, he couldn't recall what it was like.

Collin put Shadow down and started to run a warm bath for the two of them. Shadow stood at the side of the tub and watched silently at what his father was doing. He then reached to touch the water and splashed it a little as his father sorted out the towels for them both.

The bath was finally done and Collin stripped his son from the muddy blue jeans and t-shirt then Collin stripped himself of his black jeans and red robe. He gently put Shadow into the bath, passed Shadow his light blue rubber duck and then carefully climbing in as well, keeping his wings folded into his back so to make more room for Shadow to move and splash about.

"Lets get you cleaned up first then you will have more time to play. How does that sound?" Collin suggested in a loving tone.

Shadow nodded while making the blue duck swim on the surface of the water and with that Collin got to work, grabbing the children's body wash, squeezing a small amount into his hand, foaming it up a bit then started cleaning his sons black and red head quills first.

"Ouch…head stills hurt daddy." Shadow complained in a slight whisper as his eyes started to form tears.

"I'm sorry my son, I'll be more gentle." Collin apologised then started to clean Shadow's body once he finished.

Shadow started to giggle as his father cleaned the ticklish spots on his body, mainly his sides and where his small patch of white chest fluff was. His giggles turned into a laughing fit as his father took advantage of the situation at hand, trying to distract his son from his sore head.

"So your ticklish here…o and here…and most defiantly here." Collin stated as he attacked his son with the tips of his fingers, going from one place to another.

"Hahahaha, hehehe y-yes I tickle, I tickle there." Shadow laughed out with tears of joy rolling down his cheeks, completely forgetting about his sore head.

"See bath time with daddy is fun…ok your all clean so now its my turn. Play nicely ok Shadow." Collin said with a smile, receiving a nod from Shadow then started scrubbing the mud off his own fur.

Once Collin was finished he slowly stepped out of the bath and wrapped a large bath towel around his bottom half. He then picked Shadow up and put him down beside the bath tub, pulling the plug out before wrapping Shadow in a smaller bath towel.

They both walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom area. Collin noticed Shadow's clean clothes and a soft bristled brush on the bed and silently thanked his wife for dropping them off, that was something Collin had forgot to get from Shadow's room infact he forget to go to his son's room altogether.

Collin kneeled to his sons height and started to dry his wet but clean fur. When he was finished Shadow had become a small yet cute ball of fluff. This made Shadow frown a little and crossed his arms over his puffy out white chest fur, he didn't like being all fluffy so he tiptoed to grab the brush from the edge of the bed, sat down on the floor and started to brush down his black and red fur before starting on his white patch.

Collin, seeing this decided to allow his son to brush what areas he could reach and got to drying himself. Since Shadow was still brushing himself and doing so very slowly, Collin, once dry started to put on a pair of black trousers, white socks, black boots with silver buckles and a clean red and gold robe.

"Alright my son it's my turn to brush your fur." Collin announced warmly as he was given the smallish brush.

"I no like fluff, no want fluffy daddy." Shadow ordered to his father who got to work on Shadow's head quills and avoiding Shadow's sore spot.

"Don't worry my son once your adult fur comes, no longer will you have to put up with having puffy or fluffy fur ever again." Collin assured his only son while gentle brushing down his un-brushed head quills while sitting on the bedroom floor.

When the brushing ritual was done, Collin got Shadow dressed in the clothes his wife picked out for Shadow to wear. Shadow was put in a creamy coloured jumper and a baggy pair of grey jeans with an elastic waistband, so it was easy for him to pull them up and down for when he needs to use the toilet. Collin also, with difficulty put a pair of white socks on Shadow. It was difficult because that was another place Shadow was ticklish, on the soles and sides of his feet, he wouldn't stop squirming and laughing every time Collin touched or went near his feet..

Once the two were presentable, Collin gathered up his and Shadow's wet and dirty laundry out of the bathroom, dumped it in the laundry basket along with the used towels and picked it up to take down to the laundry room. While he did this Shadow stood and watched with curiosity, holding his brush close to his chest with both hands, to put back into his room opposite to his parents.

"What daddy doing with dat?" Shadow asked as he pointed to the laundry basket and looking up to his father with a puzzled expression and tilting his head slightly to one side.

"I'm taking our dirty clothes and wet towels to the laundry room so they can be washed, dried and ironed, ready to be warn and used again on another day." Collin answered as he picked up his son with his free hand.

"I come to…peas" Shadow replied with a pleading look, holding onto his father's robes so not to fall out of his arms.

"Shadow its naptime and I can hear your mother getting your room ready for you." Collin answered as he exited his room, walked across the corridor and entered Shadows room but leaving the laundry basket outside the room.

Emily was in fact in Shadow's room and pulling out the covers, ready for her sons naptime, the lullaby lamp was set ready to be turned on and now Shadow was here to take is needed nap. Collin put Shadow onto his bed and Emily took the brush from her son and put it on the dresser.

"I no nap! I no tired." Shadow stated with his arms crossed over his chest and frowning in disapproval to what his parents wanted him to do.

"Shadow you know what happens when you don't take your nap right." Emily asked as she laid Shadow down and pulled a thin layer of his covers over him.

"I go bad mood…but I no tired yet." Shadow answered then yarned and rubbed his eye's as he heard his lullaby music playing beside his bed and glowing a dim yet soft light.

"Sweet dreams my son, I'll see you later." Collin whispered warmly, kissed Shadow's forehead then left to drop off the laundry.

"Shadow do you want Mr Hoppy?" Emily softly asked referring to her son's favourite mocha coloured stuffed bunny with long floppy ears and a white fluffy ball of fur for a tail.

"Yes peas mommy…" Shadow whispered softly, yarning as he nicely took Mr Hoppy from his mother.

"Have a nice nap sweetie I'll come and wake you up in a little while ok." Emily said in a loving tone, kissing him on his cheek.

Shadow smiled and closed his eye's to sleep. He turned to his side facing the door and curled up in a more comfortable position, hugging Mr Hoppy close to himself. Emily sighed softly as she watched her son curl up then exited his room, leaving the door open as she left.

It wasn't long into Shadow's sleep that Shadow started to toss and turn, moaning quietly to himself as a dream took place. Shadow clutched his bunny tightly to himself as tears became visible, running down his cheeks and landing onto his bed sheets causing a small wet circle to form, growing wider and damper as more tears were added to that spot.

All of a sudden Shadow opened his eyes and shot up from his laying down position with a gasp. Shadow was shaking from fear and the tears fell from his eyes, showing no sigh in stopping. After a few minutes Shadow found that he was slowly calming down, his shaking stopped and the tears were slowing by the second.

"I..I no l-like bad dreams." Shadow whispered to himself in a low tone still holding and cuddling into Mr Hoppy tightly from fear.

Shadow was still a little sleepy but was too scared to go back to sleep, afraid that the dream would come back and start all over again, so he got out of his bed carefully and walked out of his room with a sleepy look, holding Mr Hoppy close to his chest. Shadow's eyes dropped halfway over his eye's and he gave out a long and tiring yarn as he wondered down the corridor, in no particular direction in mind. Shadow didn't care where he ended up as long as he was someplace else.

He didn't get far when someone rushed towards him and picked him up from behind. At first Shadow thought his dream became real and struggled within the persons grip with closed eyes but as soon as he recognised the persons sent he calmed down and opened his eye's.

"J-Joey!" Shadow sobbed as tears fell once again.

Joey bent down and picked up Shadows stuffed bunny and passed it to him, which Shadow took gratefully, hugging Mr Hoppy and wiping the tears out of his eyes with the its ears. Joey turned Shadow around and cuddled his cousins son to his chest as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Its alright Shadow, no more bad dream, its all gone now." Joey whispered softly to the two year old, gently stroking his back to calm him further.

"H-how you know I had bad dream?" Shadow questioned in a sleepy yet croaky voice as he felt his eye's closing half way from being calm and relaxed in Joey's embrace.

"…Just a lucky guess…" Joey answered after thinking what to reply to Shadow so he wouldn't become confused.

Joey was going to tell Shadow about his gift of sight and being able to sense others distress but he thought otherwise, it would only prompt Shadow to ask questions he couldn't answer without confusing the poor infant. So Joey opted for a little white lie instead.

"Maybe a cup of warm blood might make you feel better…" Joey suggested then froze on the spot outside the kitchen entrance.

Shadow watched Joey's eye's cloud over and he waved his little hand over them to get Joeys attention, when that didn't work he poked Joey in the eye slowly, multiple times. All Shadow's efforts failed so he decided to pull at Joeys nose, and hard at that. Still it didn't bring him back to reality, making Shadow annoyed enough to growl at him in a vicious way. Shadow did something he hasn't done since he gained all his teeth, he sunk his fang into Joey's shoulder, going through Joey's dark orange hoody and t-shirt before piercing through to Joeys skin. Blood was drawn and flowing into Shadow's mouth as Shadow instinctively locked his jaw making his fangs did deeper into Joey, swallowing the warn rich blood.

This completely brought Joey to his senses, suddenly feeling pain and smelling blood. He looked down at Shadow and panicked a little as he watched him drink his blood in slow motion. Joey tried to gently pull Shadow off of him but couldn't, Shadow was sinking his teeth in too deeply for Joey to remove Shadow away from himself without causing more harm to himself then Shadow was.

"Sh-Shadow s-stop!" Joey whispered as he lightly backed into a wall and slid down onto his bottom then added "please s-stop."

Shadow heard Joey's desperate cry for him to stop, he did stop and removed his fangs from Joey's flesh. Blood covered Joeys wound, clothes and Shadow's muzzle, with more blood seeping from the two fang bites. Shadow realised what he did and knew it was wrong, many times he remembers his parents telling him not to bite anyone. Shadow pushed himself away from Joey and stood in front of him with a sad and apologetic look as he clutched his bunny, making blood stain the fake mocha coloured fur. Tears became visible in his eyes and softly fell down his cheeks as he stared at his fathers cousin, horrified of what he had done.

"I…I s-sorry Joey, you i-inored me and looked funny eyes…I sorry." Shadow whispered sadly as he looked into Joeys half lidded eyes.

"It's o-ok Shadow, you didn't…" Joey started to reply in a drowsy whispered voice and slightly out of breath, but Shadow interrupted him.

"N-NO! I is been bad. I no stay here." Shadow shouted with tears falling much faster then before and after his words, ran off as fast as his little legs could, which was pretty fast.

"SHADOW!" Joey weakly shouted after Shadow in a croaky voice as he helplessly watched the toddler disappeared around a corner.

Shadow ran and ran, never stopping or looking behind him as he passed many different rooms and pushing passed some maids. Tears flew off from the corners of his eyes as he ran, creating a trail on the polished floor. He finally stopped and hid inside a room he had never been in before and squeezed himself behind a squared metal machine that has a transparent circular door on the front. Shadow curled up while hugging Mr Hoppy as even more tears fell, mixing with the blood upon his muzzle as they fell and landing onto the stuffed bunny.

"I b-bad Mr H-Hoppy…coz I like its tastes n-nice…I-I bad…" Shadow cried hysterically into Mr Hoppy, making more blood and tears smear into the bunny's fur.

Meanwhile outside of the kitchen entrance, Joey was being helped up by his cousin and steadied onto his feet while a maid cleaned up his shoulder with a damp cloth. By this time the blood stopped seeping through and the wound was healing over.

"This is my fault not Shadow's. He's too young to understand what happened, he was only trying to get my attention and snap me out of my vision." Joey explained while also defending the infant.

"I realise this but he still needs to be told…" Collin said in an annoyed tone as he tried to get around in his head what his son did.

"I don't think…no, I know you don't need to tell him, he knows what he did was wrong just by the horrified look he gave me and the way he ran off, but please don't think I'm telling you how to raise your son…thank you." Joey stated then thanked the maid for her help.

"I know you're not Joey but I need to see he is sorry for what he did and if that means a very good telling off then so be it…I don't think I'll tell Emily about this, she will only worry for his possible doomed future of darkness and destruction." Collin replied sighing at the end of his sentence.

"I understand…I saw him run in the direction of the laundry room. You don't mind if I lay down for a couple of hours? I'm starting to feel a little dizzy and light headed." Joey said holding his head with one hand and supporting himself with the other hand on the wall.

"No not at all, go a head. I'll get someone to check on you in a little while." Collin answered with concern in his voice then rushed off to find his son, for the second time that afternoon. Collin rushed in a slightly angered passé as he stormed down the corridors to where he assumed his son was. Workers in the palace quickly moved out of Collin's way, not wanting to bump into him as he rushed towards his destination.

Collin reached the laundry room and scanned the area with annoyed and slightly angered eyes but saw no sign of Shadow being in there. The overlord stood still in one spot and remained quiet as he closed his eyes, trying to sense his son's presence. After a few seconds Collin opened his eyes and frowned, walking towards the washing machine and standing in front of it.

"Shadow I know you are behind the washing machine, come out now, I need to have a chat with you." Collin ordered in a firm tone and with his arms crossed over his chest.

"G-go way I-I stay where am." Shadow called out in a muffled tone as he spoke into his stuffed bunny.

"SHADOW YOU EITHER COME OUT OF THERE WILLINGLY OR I WILL DRAG YOU OUT!" Collin shouted in frustration feeling more angered now than before.

"N-NO!" Shadow shouted back with tears falling down his cheeks and clutching a hold of MR Hoppy for dear life.

"Right you just wait until I get my hands on you!" Collin threatened as he gripped the washing machine and moved it to one side, with little effort.

Collin looked down as his son and softened his temper and features. Shadow was curled up into Mr Hoppy, shaking a little with the occasional hiccup from all the crying he was doing and blood stains on the bunny and on Shadow's jumper. Collin sighed and kneeled down to his son's level and sat on the floor. He couldn't stay mad at his son when he was like this. It was clear that Shadow did know what he did was wrong and was horrified about it too.

"Shadow look at me?" Collin softly asked as he looked down at his two year old son.

Shadow hesitated in obeying his father's simple request but did eventually look up at him. Shadow had tears and blood on his cheeks and muzzle, his ruby red eyes shone from un-fallen tears and they also showed just how scared and upset he was.

"I s-sorry. I n-no mean t-to." Shadow whispered as the tears in his eyes finally fell to join with the others down his cheeks and landing onto Mr Hoppy's head.

"Hush now my son, I can see you're very sorry, come here." Collin softly said and pulled Shadow into a comforting hug, causing Shadow to bury his head into his father's chest.

The two stayed like this for a few minutes before Shadow lifted his head up to look at his father with concerned eyes.

"Daddy is Joey ok?" Shadow asked in a worried tone.

"Hum...Yes he is fine and resting from blood loss...now Shadow I don't think I need to tell you not to do anything like this again, unless you are in danger I don't want you to bite anyone, understand?" Collin answered his son in a caring tone and with a small smile then changed his tone into a serious one as he lightly told his son off.

"Yes daddy I un-stand." Shadow whispered in a low tone then lightly sighed, relieved to hear that Joey was alright.

Collin pulled Shadow away gently and steadied him on his feet. He also stood up and moved the washing machine back to its correct position, again with little effort. Collin switched on the machine and then put some fabric softener into the draw. The overlord kneeled down onto his knees, opened the door and then looked over to his son, who was watching him very closely with a curious expression.

"Shall we put Mr Hoppy in for a bath, I don't believe he likes being dirty with blood." Collin warmly suggested motioning to his son to come forward a little.

"Will be alright?" Shadow asked in a concerned tone and had a worried look as he walked further towards his father and the washing machine.

"Of course he will Shadow, Mr Hoppy will be absolutely fine." Collin assured his son then watched him put the stuffed bunny into the machine.

"Now all's we have to do is close the door...that's it and press this button here...good, now we wait for 20 minutes for Mr Hoppy to have his bath." Collin said giving his son instructions with a lovingly smile.

"That ages..I get towels ready?" Shadow stated then asked as he looked through the door and watched the soapy water rise.

"Not exactly my son, you see this button here...well when he is finished we will press that and he will dry inside the machine. It will take an hour but you will have a clean and happy Mr Hoppy." Collin explained to his curious son.

Collin took a hold of Shadow's hand and led him out of the laundry room. They slowly walked towards Shadow's bedroom, to clean Shadow up and put a bloodless top on him. Upon arriving to Shadow's room, Emily was just about to rush out in search for her son and gently bumped into her husband.

"Collin Shadow's not..." Emily started to say then noticed her son beside his father holding hands.

"There you are Shadow...did you spill your drink over yourself again?" Emily asked not having a clue to what Shadow had really done to cause blood to be down him.

"Afraid so my love, don't worry I'll change him and bring him to the dining room for dinner." Collin lied to his wife, not wanting her to worry.

Emily smiled lovingly and walked off away from her son's room. Collin and Shadow entered and closed the door behind them. Shadow became confused at his father's answer to his mother but decided not to bring it up. Collin noticed his sons puzzled expression and sighed lightly.

"I didn't tell your mother what really happened because I do not what her getting upset, so shall we pretend nothing happened earlier, but that doesn't mean you can go around biting others." Collin stated as he removed Shadow's blooded jumper and chucked it to one side.

"Ok daddy...why mommy be upset?" Shadow asked as he watched his father pull out a light blue t-shirt with the words 'daddy's little boy' on the front in white letters.

"Because...your mother can be emotional about others getting hurt and it would upset her if she knew you did it, so we'll keep it as our little secret ok...arms up" Collin explained then instructed his son all in a soft tone.

Shadow obeyed his fathers command and lifted his arms up. Collin put the blue t-shirt onto his son then went over to the dressing table and grabbed some wet wipes to wash Shadow's muzzle. Shadow thought better then to struggle and put up a fuss when his father wiped his face clean, he felt he deserved some sort of punishment for what he did.

"There all clean...again!" Collin stated in a warm tone and with a grin then added in the same tone "let's see if you can stay clean for the rest of the day."

Shadow smiled a cute little smile up at his father as the two held hands and walked over to the bedroom door. Collin opened the door and led the way out, down the corridor and towards the laundry room.

"Let's see how Mr Hoppy is doing shall we. He should be almost done by now." Collin said in a soft tone as he gently pulled his son along.

"Then put on dry, can I put on dry?" Shadow asked in a happy tone as he slowly walked beside his father.

"Yes of course you can." Was Collins answer, looking down at his son with a warm smile.

The two carried on walking in a somewhat slow passé to the laundry room, completely forgetting about the little instant that happened earlier.


End file.
